United States President Donald Trump says American forces have carried out another strike targeting a ship that he claimed was “trafficking illicit narcotics”, killing at least three men on board the vessel.

The announcement, late on Friday, marks the third time the US has claimed a deadly attack on an alleged drug smuggling vessel this month.

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In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the “lethal kinetic strike” took place on his orders in the US Southern Command’s “area of responsibility” – a region that encompasses 31 countries in South and Central America and the Caribbean.

“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking illicit narcotics, and was transiting along a known narcotrafficking passage en route to poison Americans,” Trump said.

“The strike killed 3 male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel, which was in international waters. No US Forces were harmed in this strike.”

The US has twice this month carried out strikes against alleged drug-smuggling vessels that had originated in Venezuela.